The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 11, 2004, Page 4, Image 4
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EDITORIAL BOARD
EDITOR
Adam Beam
DESIGN DIRECTOR
David Stagg
NEWS EDITOR
Michael LaForgia
THE MIX EDITOR
Meg Moore
COPY DESK CHIEF
Gabrielle Sinclair
VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
Wes Wolfe
SENIOR WRITER
Kevin Fellner
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Jon Turner
IN OUR OPINION
Admissions must
strive for quality
With high profile legal cases, including the recent U.S.
Supreme Court case involving affirmative action at the
University of Michigan, USC officials are taking a closer look at
their admissions requirements.
For most of its history, USC has had traditional admissions
requirements, having minimum GPA and SAT requirements
for students to gain admission. But some of the top schools in
the country have moved to what’s called a holistic admissions
policy, where everything is included in a university’s require
1 1* 1
By keeping the
satellite colleges,
USC fulfills its
obligation for
educating South
Carolina.
iiu-uio, muuumg
(whether your parents were
alumni), involvement and com
munity service.
In 2003 the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled that holistic
approaches were OK, but that
assigning numerical values to meet quota, i.e. giving 10 points
to a student because he or she is black, is unconstitutional. So,
USC is considering a modified holistic approach, wherein offi
cials consider everything in a student’s application but students
are not awarded “points” with a certain number of points
guaranteeing admission.
This is all part of USC’s quest to become more selective in its
admissions policies, but at the same time provide quality educa
tion to South Carolina’s students. Whenever colleges tighten
their admissions standards, they run the risk of having fewer
students apply, thus narrowing the selection pool. With this
modified approach, the goal is to eliminate that.
USC has an obligation, as the state’s flagship institution, to
provide quality education to the people of South Carolina.
However, USC should also recruit the best students in order to
. improve. If USC keeps its system of satellite colleges and
encourages students to transfer to the Columbia campus, USC
is fulfilling this obligation.
IT’S YOUR RIGHT
Exercise your right to voice your opinion.
Create message boards at *
www.dailygamecock.com
or send letters to the editor to
gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
On Friday’s front page in an article about student IDs, Traci Hunter’s name
was misspelled. 'J
The Gamecock regrets the error.
If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at
gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu.
ABOUT THE GAMECOCK
EDITOR
Adam Beam
DESIGN DIRECTOR
David Stagg
COPY DESK CHIEF
Gabrielle Sinclair
NEWS EDITOR
Michael LaForgia
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Jon Turner
VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
Wes Wolfe
THE MIX EDITOR
Meg Moore
SPORTS EDITOR
Jonathan Hillyard
ASST. SPORTS EDITOR
Daniel Kerr
SENIOR WRITER
Kevin Fellner
PHOTO EDITOR
Jason Steelman
SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR
Katie Kirkland
PAGE DESIGNERS
Erin Cline, Jennifer Logan,
Chas McCarthy, Jessie
Ann Nielsen, Staci Jordan
COPY EDITORS
Jennifer Freeman, Anna
Huntley, Daniel
Regensheit, Jason
Reynolds, Jennifer
Sitkowski, Shana Till,
Steven Van Haren, Joey
Wallace
ONLINE EDITOR
Brian Cope
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Jane Fielden, Katie
Miles
CONTACT INFORMATION
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CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
DeMint comment embarrasses S.C.
■ GOP candidate for
U.S. Senate can’t get
his foot out of his mouth
So here we are again. Another one
of our state leaders has gone above
and beyond the call of duty to prove
to the rest of the country what a
progressive and tolerant place South
Carolina is.
After the little e-mail snafu at
Congressman Jim DeMint’s U.S.
Senate campaign headquarters, in
which his campaign’s director of
operations unwittingly (and boy, is that
the perfect word for it) carbon-copied
an inter-office e-mail to the leader of a
gay and lesbian group in Savannah,
referring to the woman as a “dyke.”
As intelligent a move as that was,
DeMint further compounded the issue
in his debate with opponent Inez
Tenenbaum last week when he stated
that gay and lesbian teachers, as well as
unwed pregnant fnothers, should not
be allowed in our public schools.
Now I’m certainly not surprised
that a conservative congressman in the
South might not be as accepting of
homosexuality as many would like,
but I have to say I was a bit disturbed
by his comments. You’ve got to love
these blanketed discriminatory
notions that politicians sometimes
arrive at when trying to achieve
political enlightenment. In making
this thoughtless statement, DeMint
has successfully proven to the rest of
the country yet again that we in South
Carolina ar<
much happie:
in ;
homogenou:
community
than in one tha
cherishe:
tolerance anc
diversity.
If DeMin
had his way
our legislator:
could go dowr
the line o
teachers wit!
their owr
checklist anc
throw out whomever they deem tc
have ideas different from their own
Possibly DeMint should study j
similar societal model used throughou
Europe in the late 1930s. I heard it wa;
a real crowd pleaser.
Just think of where USC would b<
if all our classes were taught by onl)
wealthy, conservative, white men. No:
that there’s anything wrong with bein^
one. I hope to achieve that dream on<
day as well (sans the conservative part)
But there is a lot to be said for having
diverse faculty members to give '<
variety of differing opinions anc
perspectives when teaching.
This is true for any age. I woulc
think most South Carolinian;
understand that being a dedicatee
teacher has nothing to do witt
whether someone is black or white
man or woman, rich or poor, Jew 01
Gentile, Democrat or Republican, ga)
ZACHERY
SCOTT
FOURTH-YEAR
POLITICAL
SCIENCE
STUDENT
or straight. We need to put the focus
back on better funding for
educational opportunities from
toddlers in kindergarten to Ph.D.
candidates in college. Education in
our state has enough hurdles to
overcome without a person like
DeMint using his selective morality to
weed out anyone who has a different
opinion from their own.
DeMint has now muddled
through what can be construed by
anyone with a pulse as a half-hearted
apology. He says that while those are
his personal beliefs, which even I will
argue he is certainly entitled to, he
would not make them public policy if
elected. Here DeMint is trying to
have his cake and eat it too. I find it
very hard to distinguish between
what a candidate believes and what
they are willing to put into effect if
given power. I like a candidate who
says what he thinks and does what he
says. However, while I respect
DeMint’s right to tell his opinion, I
along with many others do not have
to agree with it.
With comments like these, DeMint
is trying to divide our state like it was
1964, rather than 2004. He’s an
intelligent man who has put in many
years of public service. But his view on
this particular topic is too far right
from the mainstream and is not the
direction that we as a state need to be
headed. He should know better.
But if you want my guess, I say
there is a pregnant lesbian out there
who screwed him over royally.
IN YOUR OPINION
Postwar Iraq shows
Bush’s failed policy
If we accept the standards for
determining a president put
forward by George W. Bush, we can
only arrive at one conclusion: We
cannot vote for him. Bush has
argued that this election comes
down to the war on terrorism. If
this is true, then we must look at the
success of this war and let that
determine whether its leader should
be welcomed back for a second try.
Let us begin with Afghanistan.
We invaded Iraq for three
reasons: to bring &n end to the reign
of the Taliban, to catch Osama bin
Laden and, finally, to establish a
democracy capable of resisting the
pull of the Islamic fundamentalism
that surrounds the country. The first
task was accomplished with relative
ease. But, of course, it is not difficult
for the world’s last superpower to
defeat a medieval theocracy.
The second task, as we know, has
not been accomplished and barring
the possibility that Bush has him in
storage waiting till just before the
election, bin Laden will not be in
U.S. custody before Nov. 2. The
final task is the most important and
the farthest from completion.
Afghanistan is in near chaos.
According to reports, the only stable
city is Kabul, with the rest of the
country divided between war/drug
lords and the former Taliban. The
situation is so bad that the president
of the country is not guarded by his
own people but by American
mercenaries. It would seem that the
first front in the war on terrorism is
leaning heavily to the side of failure.
Iraq was supposed to be the next
front we had to fight. Saddam was
supposed to have WMD, the ability
to deploy them and the desire to help
al Qaeda destroy the United States.
We now know, and many already
knew, that Saddam, in fact, did not
have WMD, that he did not have the
ability to deploy the non-existent
weapons or even the ability to deploy
a significant defense of his country
and he did not have any significant
connection with al Qaeda.
If we ignore these facts and
assume that Iraq is part of the war on
terror, things do not get better for
George W. The planning for
postwar Iraq has been nearly non
existent. Paul Bremer, the man
picked by W. to run Iraq, now says
there were not enough troops to
successfully contain the chaos and
violence that followed the invasion.
Rumsfeld has said that elections
cannot take place in the entirety of
Iraq because the United States does
not control the entire country,
leaving cities in the hands of the
insurgents. Postwar Iraq is the final
failure in the war on terror.
SID LITTLEFIELD
Graduate student in the
College of Liberal Arts
Writer should know
encore was planned
I know a lot about tour production
and let me just say that Chas McCarthy
(“Incubus delivers in Atlanta," Tuesday),
obviously doesn’t know much about the
production of a concert. I was at this
concert, I didn’t think it was Incubus’
best performance, but it was still a good
show. When McCarthy said, “‘Maniac’
was supposed to close out the concert,” is
total b.s. That was a choreographed end
ing. It was designed to cause the crowd
to cheer them back on stage; it was ex
pected.
After “Maniac” ended, the house lights
did not come up and the stage lights nev
er went completely out, they stayed
dimmed and slowly faded up. Explain
how there was a complete light show
planed for the songs they played after the
“encore.” The light show was far too com
plex and complete to be executed with
out former planning. It was timed per
fectly with the music with a very fancy
fade in just before the music started. This
“encore” was way too planned to have just
happened.
COURTNEY BROCKINGTON
First-year media arts student
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Working
at shelter
gives one
perspective
■ Helping out another
human being is always
a win-win situation
I’ve been thinking a lot about
volunteer work and how good it’s
supposed to be for you. I’m a firm believer
that it is good for people, not just for those
who do the
I volunteer work,
but the needy
people who
receive things
from the
volunteerism,
such as a new
home, a warm,
filling meal or a
listening ear.
I’ve written
about my
experiences
working at a
women’s home
here in
Columbia.
SARAH
ROGERS
FOURTH-YEAR
ADVERTISING
STUDENT
started out as a volunteer worker in early
2004 and figured it would just be a
temporary thing but it’s now almost
Halloween and I am still at it, just as
strong as ever. Out of all the jobs I have
held in my 21 years, I have come to learn
the most from this one and I d like to tell
you why. My hope is that you will
consider volunteering yourself after you
« read what I have to say.
I have learned that volunteerism
teaches you that there is still good left in
the world. Today, there is a lot to be
worried and discouraged about. On the
news, all that seems to be reported on
anymore is suicide bombings by terrorists,
innocent people being murdered in the
streets and school shootings
masterminded by 12-year-olds. It’s hard
to go around with a smile anymore. My
work at the women’s home has made me
see that there are plenty of people, even
young people, who sincerely want to help
instead of hurt those who are less
fortunate.
Volunteerism has made me see how
fortunate I really am. I complain about so
much in my life, but when I look at the
bigger picture I see that my griping is
truly selfish. I talk about how ugly my car
is and then shut up when I see how most
of the women at the home have to take
the bus or a taxi if they want to go
anywhere. I wish how I could have more
shopping money to buy a new handbag
or a pair of shoes, but stop my wishing
when I see that the woman next to me is
wearing a hand-me-down blouse and
skirt donated by one of the local
churches. I tell myself how stupid it is for
all of my professors to assign their exams
during the same week, but then hush
when I realize that most of the women I
work with don’t even have a high school
uipiuma.
I have learned that volunteerism is a
good way to learn how to interact with
people from all walks of life. Before I
began my work at the women’s home, I
did not venture that far from my close
circle of friends. I had basically hung out
with the same types of people my entire
life. Volunteerism has introduced me to
those who have experienced abuse from
so-called loved ones, those who have
been incarcerated for a number of years,
those who have suffered from cancer and
AIDS, and even those who have initially
seen me as a threat because of the color
of my skin and my good upbringing. I
have become more accepting, more
caring and more mindful because of all
the people volunteerism has brought
into my life.
I could write an entire book about
why volunteerism is good for everyone,
but there’s only so much I can say here. I
do hope I’ve given you a better idea of
what volunteerism has done for me
specifically, and I can promise you that it
gives the same benefits to others as well.
Be sure to check out
www.volunteermatch.org for more
information on finding out how you can
give back to the world, and if you only
remember one thing from this column,
remember this: With volunteerism, it’s
always a win-win situation.
COLLEGE QUOTE BOARD
MINNESOTA DAILY
' ' UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Iothis presidential election, same-sex marriage is an issue that distinguishes
™ Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry and President George W. Bush.
It also exemplifies the candidates’ moral and political resolve. Kerry has stood in sup
port of extending equal rights to same-sex couples, whereas Bush is pressing to
constitutionalize discrimination under the auspices of protecting a bedrock of civ
ilization. jSf y
DAILY COLLEGIAN
PENN STATE UNIVERSITY
An election as important as this requires a higher level of responsibility and ma
turity on the part of campaign supporters. Rather than spending time pulling juvenile
pranks like stealing signs, these so-called “supporters” should be volunteering for cam
paigns and informing students about the issues.
k # '
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